Annual Actual Evapotranspiration Estimation via GIS Models of Three Empirical Methods Employing Remotely Sensed Data for the Peloponnese, Greece, and Comparison with Annual MODIS ET and Pan Evaporation Measurements

Abstract

Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) has been insufficiently investigated in Greece. This study aimed to estimate annual ETa by empirical methods (Turc, modified Turc, and Coutagne) for the Peloponnese, Greece, a Mediterranean testbed, between 2016–2019, four of the warmest years since the preindustrial era, and compare them to MODIS ET. Furthermore, measurements of annual pan evaporation (Epan) were performed for two Class A pan stations in the Peloponnese with different reliefs and conditions. The empirical methods and statistical formulae (RMSD, MB, and NMB) were developed as models in ArcMap. The outcomes of the Turc method resembled MODIS ET ranges for all years, followed by those of Coutagne. The estimates by the modified Turc method were almost identical to MODIS ET. Therefore, the modified Turc method can be used as an alternative to MODIS ET (and vice versa) for the Peloponnese for 2016–2019. Moreover, the Epan at Patras University station (semiurban, low elevation) exhibited an upward trend resembling the trends of the empirical methods over the study years, whereas the Epan at Ladonas station (higher elevation, lakeside) required investigation on a monthly time scale. Additionally, the gradual decrease of pan-water icing at Ladonas in December (from 20 d in 2016 to 0 d in 2019) could imply an undergoing decrease in snowpack storage retention across the mountains of the Peloponnese.